Thursday, July 12, 2007

Runbot: Fast, Dynamic Biped

Runbot is a small, biped robot which can move at speedsof more than three leg lengths per second, slightly slower than thefastest walking human.

The basic walking steps of Runbot, which has been builtby scientists co-operating across Europe, are controlled by reflexinformation received by peripheral sensors on the joints and feet ofthe robot, as well as an accelerometer which monitors the pitch of themachine.

These sensors pass data on to local neural loops - theequivalent of local circuits - which analyse the information and makeadjustments to the gait of the robot in real time.

As the robot takes each step, control circuits ensure that the joints are not overstretched and that the next step begins.

But if the robot encounters an obstacle, or a dramaticchange in the terrain, such as a slope, then the higher level functionsof the robot - the learning circuitries - are used.Runbot walks in a very different way from robots like Asimo, star of the Honda TV adverts, said Prof Woergoetter.

"They are kinematic walkers - they walk step by step and calculate every single angle, every millisecond.

"That can be handled through engineering but it is veryclumsy. No human would walk like that. All these big machines stomparound like robots - we want our robot to walk like a human."Article Link (BBC, with video)